Safety closure caps are well known in the art. For many years there have been attempts to develop a lockable closure cap to prevent easy access to the contents of the containers such as whiskey bottles, medicines, drugs and the like. For example, in Kempin U.S. Pat. No. 738,917, a lockable bottle stopper is disclosed in which a threaded stopper is threadably engaged with the threaded neck of a receptacle and a capsule or shell encloses the stopper and a swivel joint is provided between the stopper and the capsule. A key engaging mechanism on the stopper and a key for rotating the stopper causes the threads on the stopper to disengage the threads on the neck of the bottle. By turning the key in one direction, the web on the key element itself engage studs on the closure cap or stopper and screws the stopper onto the neck of the bottle and by reversing rotation of the key the webs also engage the studs to rotate the stopper in the opposite direction and unscrew the stopper off the bottle neck. After the stopper has been attached to the bottle and the key removed, the capsule or shell swivels upon the stopper and when turned will not turn the stopper or closure on the bottle. In Rouse U.S. Pat. No. 3,426,932, a tamper proof poison bottler closure is disclosed in which a screw type main cap has a rib formed across the top thereof. An outer or auxiliary companion cap or shell has a deep depending annular rim encompassing the rim of the main cap with the lid portion thereof being spaced vertically above and parallel to the lid portion of the main cap and is swivelly mounted on a journal so that without a key, the shield freely rotates relative to the inner screw cap. A marginally threaded collar provides a rotary gear like pinion which coacts with a pair of rack elements guided in vertical guideways formed in the inner annular ware of the shield, so that upon rotation of the pinion by a key element, the engaged rack elements slide in their respective guideways into engagement with the rib extending across the top of the screw type main cap to thereby engage the outer shell or shield with the screw cap so that it may be removed. Several rotations of the key are required to cause an engagement of the racks with the rib on the top of the main screw cap.
The lockable closure cap disclosed in my U.S. Pat. No. 4,796,768 provides an inner seal closure cap which is threadably engaged with the threaded neck portion of a conventional bottle or container, and an outer shield or shell member which is mounted for free rotation relative to the seal closure cap. Engagement of the seal cap for twisting motion either on or off is provided by an annular cylindrical clutch element which is integrally formed with the closure cap and projects upwardly therefrom. The annular shell housing carries a lock element which actuates a cam member. A clutch shoe carrier has one or more laterally extending guideways which support one or more clutch shoe elements, which are maintained in an unactuated position by a spring or O-ring type spring. When the lock is actuated (either by a key or by a combination), the cam is rotated approximately 90 degrees and causes the ends of the clutch shoes to operably extend laterally relative to the vertical axis of the bottle or container and the cylindrical clutch element to engage and disengage with the annular surface of the annular cylindrical clutch element upon unlocking and locking, respectively, operation of the lock mechanism.
The object of the present invention is to provide an improved lockable closure cap which has fewer parts, is easier to assemble and lower in cost.
In the present invention, the clutch shoes have inner ends which are shaped to receive an activator which is rotated with the lock mechanism to always positively drive the clutch shoes in the carrier to engagement with an annular clutch element and to a disengaged position. This eliminates the annular spring and the attendant fitment of the clutch carrier and clutch shoes. The clutch element which is formed integral with the closure cap is comprised of one or more upstanding members. The clutch shoes are complementary shaped so as to serve as mutual guides for themselves, in conjunction with the carrier cavity walls. A simpler and less expensive lock mechanism is utilized. A part of the annular shell housing is used as the outer shell for the lock for interacting engagement with the lock pins or plates to thereby provide a less expensive key lock mechanism. The annular outer shell can be molded to accommodate various lock mechanisms. To facilitate and enable automated assembly, a rectangular projection on the inner upper surface of the outer annular shell rests inside a corresponding recess in the clutch carrier and prevents rotation of the clutch carrier relative to the outer annular shell.
Moreover, the annular outer shell can be molded in various artistic designs, heads of people, animals (e.g., a wild turkey or a horse), flowers (e.g., four roses) to promote various brands of liquid contents filling the bottles and letters can be embossed on the external plastic surfaces; and the key itself may have the finger/thumb portion thereof correspondingly artistically shaped or configured (e.g., a jockey for a horse-shaped outer annular shell).